War stories are terrifying. War SURVIVAL stories though terrify me more. Because they don't just speak of the war, they also speak about the after-effects of the war. No matter how much ever Holocaust literature I read. No matter how many gut-wrenching documentaries I watch, every time I listen to a survival story, shivers run down my spine.

I want to congratulate Art Spiegelman from the bottom of my heart to bring MAUS in our world. A heart-rending story of Art's father "Vladek Spiegelman" and mother "Anja", about their lives pre and post WWII. Art's father is a Holocaust survivor. He went into and came out of Auschwitz-Birkeneu where millions of Jews were gassed, burnt, buried alive and shot in the head mercilessly. It wasn't a normal massacre. It was an attempt to wipe out an entire race.

Spiegelman has tried to portray the terrifying brutalities of this reality through comic strips. And he did it successfully. Vladek, sometimes by sheer cunning and sometimes by mere luck, managed to come out of the war alive but like any other war, this war scarred the family for life. Not just Vladek but it scarred even Art despite him not having to face anything. One may call it his guilt, but the fact that his parents suffered so much and he hardly had any hardships was enough reason for him to have a nervous breakdown. Life isn't the same for survivors. The wounds run deep. Anxiety becomes a part of life.

This memoir doesn't only tell us the war story. It also tells us about the relationship between Art and his father. It throws light on so many aspects of one's life. I am short on time at the moment and hence a simple review, but I will come back to fill this space with more.

The book is recommended to one and all. It is a must-read for those looking for Holocaust or WWII literature.